Strange Love
by FollowtheFatOrangeCat
Summary: Fate doesn't have a care for personal desires. Even the most structured of plans can collapse on destiny's whim. In this case, one night of 'misjudgement' and the consequences that followed will cause a ripple effect to influence the lives of many. Four in particular. [AU: M for language and sexual content]
1. Prologue

**Prologue** **:**

* * *

 **"** **I wonder how many people don't get the one they want, but end up with the one they're supposed to be with."  
― ****Fannie Flagg** **,** ** _Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe_**

* * *

 **[...Need...]**

Natsu was the kind of guy no woman would consider for as serious relationship. While there was no denying his kind heart: never one to look away from someone in need, he had the reputation of taking in the misfits and shy...whether they wanted the friendship or not, he eventually wore them down. It was that very sweet, playful, and relentless nature that made it near impossible to see him as an active member within an 'adult' relationship.

An everlasting, mature relationship was the last thing on Lucy's mind when she encountered the classmate acquaintance during the end-of-the-term party she had wondered into after completing the last final she would have to take within her foreseeable academic career. Unless she decided to acquire her masters or attend law school, both had been options that her father had voiced interest in during the years.

Thinking of her father reminded her that she should have returned home rather than procrastinate the inevitable, knowing what awaited her...her father and all his expectations, which would either include her being fit into an office at one of the family's company or—more likely—a long string of marriage meetings with the eligible sons of business contacts...would not go away, no matter what distractions she found along the way.

All she wanted was one last night of harmless fun and freedom before she had to face that unwelcoming scenario.

Maybe she had allowed it to get a bit out of hand...

The music blaring three floors below was almost enough to drown out the sensual cries purring from Lucy's throat as her hands reached behind her, grabbing onto the metal rungs of the pink-haired frat-boy's bed. Sweat plastered her hair at the temples and beaded along her skin from the exertion. As one time turned into an insatiable three.

Breasts bounced in delicious pain in time with the administrations of the lean, muscular body stretched above her. Hands, covered in callouses and burns of unknown origin, twined one of her supple legs about his hips and draped the other over his shoulder, grating him the perfect angle of entrance. Thrusting in deep, there was no mistaking the smug satisfaction gained from her reactions to his attentions: shuddering in need and completing multiple times to each of his.

Pushing herself onto shaking elbows, Lucy took the initiative by moving into the next wave and managed to contort about, trapping him under her straddled thighs. Maintaining their pace, she ran nails of one hand down his chiseled torso, leaving faint streaks of red, while the she ran the tips of the other over his lips, feeling the heat of his panted breaths, before lifting both her palms to ran along the curves of her body. Cupping and playing with her breasts as his grip dug into the lushness of her ass with a groan that spoke of him nearing his limit.

"Oh...God...yes..." She moaned out, head rolling back as an internal tightness began to gather and throb where they were connected.

This was what she needed.

Carnal bliss before her life was taken from her.

"Fuck…Lucy…"Natsu groaned; teeth clenched in restraint. "I'm about to come. Slow down."

No.

Not when she was this close.

Gasping before teeth buried themselves into her lower lip, Lucy's mind went into an euphoric spiral away from reason as her body continued to move. Faintly hearing Natsu reach his completion before collapsing onto his body, drawing him in even deeper and instantly creating another fresh wave of pleasure that had her gasping. Legs turned liquid, all she could do was remain where she fell. Breathing heavily, chest to chest, Lucy could feel Natsu slowly begin to harden once more.

Was he even human?

As far as Lucy knew, as limited as her experience in such being, no man could manage four times within one night.

These questions, the source of which being what caused him to be perfect for her purposes, didn't cause her any pause from responding as his clever fingers began to massage her body, stroking the fiery passion that had barely time to cool.

"Fuck..." He growled, hooking her knee on rolling her onto her back. "Looks like I'm not the only one not ready to call it quits." Reclaiming his position between her currently useless thighs, a wicked smirk played on his lips before he lowered his head to take one of her damp peaks into his mouth and suckled. Fingers kneading the other so both gained attention and Lucy's breathing began to quicken once more. Unintelligible words murmured through her quivering lips as his teeth gave her nipple a playful bite. Turning her head to the side, Lucy had to bury her teeth into the pillow's cover to keep herself from screaming profanities.

"Come on," Natsu urged, usually laughing voice turned into a husky rasp, and rocked back on his heels to take in the sight of her sprawled before him—as if he didn't believe the turn his night had taken any more than she had. Licking his lips at what he saw with ornery delight dancing in grey eyes. "Tell me what you want."

What did she want?

Him to fuck her hard enough that she forgot her whole life had been designed and mandated for her, no one ever once thinking to ask her what she wanted…

Instead of speaking the truth, Lucy released her clenched grip on the pillow and climbed to unwilling knees. All the better to push Natsu onto his back. Slowly, she lowered herself onto him, inch by searing inch. Hands buried in her hair with chest thrust forward as he strained up to meet her. To be inside her to the hilt. She might never be able to get what she truly wanted out of life: a nothing more than a quiet existence of her choosing far from her father's influence, but she could content herself with riding out Natsu's seemingly endless stamina until they both collapsed into unconsciousness.

While not be exactly what she wanted, it sure as sin felt good…and that was exactly what she needed at the moment.

* * *

 **[...Terror...]**

There had to be a mistake.

There was no way that this could be the truth.

There had to be a mistake.

Checking the box once more, Lucy managed to read the beginning half of the directions before throwing the thin cardboard across the room and sank onto the edge of the tub, missing the rim and collapsing onto the floor, in terrified sobs.

The plastic strip in her hands clattering to the tiles so that the damning pink plus, the only color in the sea of white, stared up at her.

"Lucy?" A worried voice followed the tentative wrap at the door. "You in there?"

The sound of her best-friend, and foster-sister's, voice caused Lucy's sobs to strengthen, becoming audible even when she pressed her shaking hands to her mouth.

It was enough for Levy to forgo strict manners and enter without leave.

One look at her friend caused the petite young woman, same age as Lucy but several inches shorter, to not hesitate in crouching down on the cold floor in front of where Lucy seemed to be trying to hold her body together. Toes nudging the damnable strip in the process. Large brown eyes watched the test skid along the smooth surface to hide behind the toilet.

She could only stare at the encroaching shadows the evidence now resided for heavy heart-beats before slowly turning her gaze up to where fat tears were rolling down Lucy's face from burning, red-rimmed eyes.

Not asking for an explanation for the obvious truth, all Levy did was wrap her arms around Lucy, generating as much security as her small body was able.

Lucy had never loved her friend more than that moment, unable to explain to one of the people she held in the greatest esteem how she managed to so thoroughly screw-up her life, knocked-up from a guy she barely knew the name of, all in the desire to achieve one frivolous memory of unattached passion.

Shame had settled about her even as she was getting dressed when they finally finished that evening over two weeks ago. Once Natsu had passed-out, she had crawled off the mattress, self-disgust erupting the moment she was no longer in his close proximity, and gathered her clothes in record speed. Lucy had maintained her silence about her primal, irresponsible actions of that night to anyone. Including Levy, who she valued the high opinion of more than most.

How was Levy ever going to look at her with the same amount of comradely respect after realizing what Lucy had foolishly committed?

Not bothering to speak the lie all said at such a time, the blue-haired bookworm spoke the only truth she knew.

"We'll figure something out." Cupping Lucy's face so the blonde couldn't continue to hang her head in mortified self-loathing, Levy forced their eyes to meet. "Do you hear me? You're not in this alone."

"My dad—"

"Does not need to know." Levy cut off Lucy's frantic words, wobbled with tears. "You already denied his job offers and made it known that you're not interested in his match-ups. It won't come as a surprise to anyone if we move out. Not when we've been saying how we always would since high school. From there, we'll figure out the details."

"How?"

Kissing her friend's temple, Levy smoothed Lucy's tussled hair—sticking about from her stressfull tearing at the golden locks while waiting the longest five minutes of the heiress's life. "Leave that to me. Just be ready to leave in the morning."

"That soon?"

"Do you want to stay?"

"No." Trying to wipe at her face and stem the tears, Lucy violently shook her head. "But…where are we going to go? How are we going to make ends meet?" Her father wasn't going to back this idea, not when keeping her near enabled him better command over her actions.

"I have a few ideas."

* * *

 **[...Resolve...]**

It was a seedy hole-in-the-wall, grease darkened the windows and the grime of the HELP WANTED sign stained her hands from where she ripped the stiff paper from the brick wall in order to carry inside the gas stationed garage.

A bell tried to add some cheer as she walked through—into air thick of the telling scents of oil, anti-freeze, and fuel—and made way for the counter at the end of the short aisles in long need of a dusting. It was impossible to tell where the dirt ended and the rusty metal began.

Rock music setting pace to her steps on approach to the man sitting behind an antique register placed within sight of an opened door leading into the mechanic portion of the, for lack of a better word, business. The source of the music along with a myriad of crass comments and guiltless profanities that were the only sounds available.

The only force keeping her feet maintaining their ability to continuously fall in front of one another being the memory etched into her mind of how helpless and terrified Lucy had been, sitting in the middle of her bed and watching Levy's departure with an expression of groundless hope.

Lucy had always been there for Levy in any capacity needed, from a sympathetic ear when the socially-awkward geek's heart was broken over discovering all a crush's interest in her resided with obtaining her notes to ensuring Levy had a home when her parents crashed their car over a bridge's barrier and died on impact. Now, it was Levy's turn to do some protecting.

The man looked up from where he was sitting on a rickety stool and seemed to be filling his shift with sketching on a length of curling receipt. Shaggy black hair, the top half pulled back, hung into crimson eyes that sharpened on seeing her approach. The small smile he gifted was enough to sooth some of her frayed nerves.

The crooked stitchery on his canvas button-up proclaiming him 'Rogue.'

"Can I help you?" Gaze noting the sign she held, his smile dimmed the slightest degree. "You're looking for a job?"

"Has it already been filled?"

"No," dropping his pen, Rogue starched the back of his neck, "not yet. But it's a mechanic's job."

Levy could feel her brows lift. "And you don't think I would be interested in that because I'm a woman?"

"No, it's obvious you won't be interested because you look like you just walked out of a fucking kid's store." The voice did not come from Rogue's lips but shot through the air beside him, where a giant stood in the door's frame with a visible scoff at the sight she presented. Not thinking job searching when she got dressed that morning, and in too much of a hurry when she formed this half-plan, Levy wore a lacy camisole and a flared skirt with fashion boots, the structure very much unlike the thick soled numbers the giant wore.

Well over six-feet, having to duck a degree on entrance, he seemed to be a study in harsh angles and hard pans. Unable to be anything save the brother of his gentle-mannered counter-part, both having the same coloring of crimson, black, and sun-kissed skin…though the abrasive one was a few shades darker from prolonged exposure.

Where Rogue's appearance was slightly disheveled, an absent-minded appearance of an artist or other creative sort who dwelled within worlds unseen, his brother blatantly flaunted his unkempt demeanor. Levy doubted his mane of hair had met a comb within months with numerous rips running along his jeans. Where Rogue maintained an overall clean appearance, the elder wore a shirt under his opened button-up, the buttons seemed to have fallen off and never been fixed, that might have once been white and the bandana at his hairline could have been green in another life.

"Even if you were interested, you probably wouldn't be able to keep up with the demands."

Steeling herself, Levy forced her spine to lift her height to all its meager glory.

"I've been working as the Heartfilia's personal mechanic for the past seven years, and did overflow or minute for their friends for five. I was even certified for inspections last year." All the means to feel of use after having her interests spiked in mechanics after visiting a garage after a break-down during one of her and Lucy's weekend long shopping trips. As with all things, general car maintenance had been a quick study for her and soon surpassed the hired staff Lucy's father had been grossly overpaying from lack of interest.

She was fixing cars even before she could drive them and dared the Neanderthal to try to call her out on such. Any test his unimaginative mind could develop, she was confident she could pass.

"If that's the case, why are you looking for a job here? There's no way I could meet the salary you're getting there."

"You don't know how much they pay." That being nothing and, therefore, whatever he would offer being significantly more than her one useful trait currently offered. There being no quick money in a love of literature and, despite its appearance, having heard nothing but rave reviews about the garage.

The high-end cars currently inhabiting the bay being enough of a testament to the truth in the reputation.

"Rich types always pay top dollar, even if it's inferior work." The parallel bars strung through the end of his right brow tugged at the skin when he lifted the feature. "Besides, the job is only part for the shop."

"And the other part?"

"Working pit for a cycle crew." Rogue answered far more congenially than his brother. "We've been accepted into the professional circuit, right after a former employee resigned—"

"His balls rolling about his wife's purse." The elder of the brother's muttered with a roll of his eyes. "And, as you see, I doubt there is room for you here—"

"What kind of bike is it?"

"What?"

Levy's inner self wanted to burst into tears and hide under the rickety table hosting a coffee pot. All she could do was ball her trembling fingers into fists and continue fighting against her timid nature. "Factory made or custom?"

The two, even gentle Rogue, looked at her with horror about the insinuation of using a bike straight off a lot for serious racing.

Levy inclined her head in apology. "Sorry, needed to know how serious you were."

"How serious _we_ were?"

"Well, you're right in part, there's no way that I would invest the needed time and energy of crewing for a cycle if those in charge are only in for the thrill while shoving heads so far up their collective asses that it turns out they don't know the first thing about how to actually race." The words were far more brazen than she felt, knees about to give from the strain of standing while her heart was racing from nerves. She just had to hold on for a few more minutes and then she could collapse into hysterics, once out of their sight.

Laughter, this time coming from behind her, nearly caused Levy to startle with a shriek.

"She's got spunk; I like that. She's in."

"Natsu," the giant growled on adjusting how his bandana rested on his brow, the action causing the numerous piercings spanning his face to glint in the dim lighting, "how many times do I have to remind you that this isn't your fucking garage."

"Yes, but it's my crew." The speaker seemed vaguely familiar, someone Levy might have encountered on campus in passing. Pale-pink hair spiked about an impish face perfect for smirking, he crossed his arms and leaned against the nearest shelving, not seeming to care about the dust covering his leather jacket and lifting a brow of assessment. "What's your name?"

"Levy?" Why did she have to phrase it like a question? Where was a fake confidence of seconds before?

Either he didn't notice the crack in her faked self-assurance, or he pretended to. Either way, she was grateful for his continuation of conversation. "I say we give her a shot. If she doesn't make the cut, no harm done."

"Sounds fair to me," Rogue chimed in, smile returning to put Levy at ease as she looked back to him with the hope that her gratitude wasn't blaring above her head.

All the mammoth owner did was give a non-committal grunt before turning back into the bay. "We open at five in the morning, don't bother showing if your going to be late. And find some decent clothes to wear."

* * *

 **A/N: Know that there are plenty of typos…it has been a while since I wrote anything, skills are rusty.**

 **While this chapter was of a more 'mature' nature, I assure you that this is not the overall theme the story will hold (though there will be sexual content...it's just not the only aspect of this story...if that makes sense). Lucy/Natsu's inevitable story will actually be of a more wholesome nature from this point on.**

 **I hope you all enjoy and PLEASE send me your thoughts. For better or worse, such would be appreciated.**


	2. One

**One** **:**

* * *

 **[…Sexism…]**

When she was younger, Levy used to be obsessed with fairy tales: whimsical stories about orphans becoming heroes, true love reigning supreme, and fantastic creatures roaming free…such as nefarious dragons and delicate pixies.

Now, she felt as if she was living in one...in the worse possible ways.

Rather than being able to vanquish the iron dragon of general hostility, she had become a sacrificial offering of sorts. Every time something went wrong, she was the one called into the den to be scorched.

By 'den' she meant the postage stamp of an office tucked at the back of the garage's bay.

By 'scorched' she meant being unjustly yelled at.

Her way of spinning things made such slightly more tolerably when 'Blue' was growled across the way. The nickname not stemming from deep-seeded affection. Instead such came from Gajeel's inability to remember names, preferring to simply identify a person by the most obvious feature.

For Levy, that meant her hair.

It could be worse, he could reference her height.

This time, when the call to arms was sounded, she had been in the middle of returning the keys to the roommates who shared the van she had just completed a regulation inspection. The two had several questions regarding the vehicle, not seeming to believe that it was fine for three thousand more mile. A rapid fire of inquiries cut short by her boss's distinct bark.

"Blue!"

Trying to be as polite as possible, not wanting to be blamed for losing future work, she flashed the two a smile on taking a step back. "I'm sorry, will you excuse me for a moment?"

"Yes, of course." Both answered in unison, their voices creating far better harmony than their mixed matched appearances. One being tall and thin with an affiliation for hats while his counterpart was shorty and overly-doughy in nature.

They remained at the store's counter as Levy traveled through the bay, torrent of rain audibly striking the roof and causing Grey to up the precariously perched radio's volume as what sounded like hail joined the storm. Wearing a smock like so many of the other mechanics, he was sans shirt with the smock's sleeves tied about his waist so his naked torso was on display.

And yet Levy got scolded for undoing the top few buttons on an especially sweltering day.

She wasn't sure if she had somehow wronged Gajeel within the short period of time she had been under his employ or if he was simply a misogynist, but she was certain that she would have been fired on her first day if she hadn't shown an advanced understanding of basic mechanics and if Rogue hadn't kept his brother in line.

Gajeel owned the place.

Rogue was the heart.

He flashed Levy a shy, reassuring smile as she passed. "He's doing paperwork." The young man murmured, leaning under a hood when she drew level. The explanation making far more sense than it would have a month prior.

"Thanks," she whispered, tightening the knot at the base of her neck to secure the bandana keeping her waved locks at bay in place.

"What the fuck was that?" Gajeel started even before she had crossed the threshold.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to be slightly more specific." Her voice was painfully polite, refusing to cringe away from the glare he shot her. He wasn't mad at her…well, maybe he was…but the main cause of his ire were the papers spewed about the make-shift desk—a door placed upon two rusty and mini-in-size filing cabinets—that took up the majority of the space.

"I don't pay you to flirt."

"I was finishing an inspection." Levy hoped that he meant the men with the inspection and not from her interaction with co-workers. Tending to get along with everyone once she gained comfort in their presence, she had just begun to develop casual friendships, of sorts, with her fellows. It would be both awkward and frustrating if they thought she had only taken the job as some odd way of living out a romance fantasy.

Grey's blatant disinterest in clothing aside, Levy honestly never understood the appeal mechanic's held in that particular genre. What was sexy about being covered in grease and smelling like exhaust?

"It takes fifteen minutes to give a bill and hand over keys?"

"They had questions."

Leaning back on his chair, which looked about to buckle from his imposing build, Gajeel looked her over in clear disbelief. "Either you are ridiculously naïve or think I'm stupid."

She wasn't sure how to answer that.

"Just, from now on, keep the interactions short."

But it was alright for Sting, Rogue's best friend and the younger brother to the infamous Natsu, to treat the shop as a dating service.

Not that Levy voiced this injustice, men and all they implied being the last thing on her mind. Not when she had so much more to deal with, all reasons why she needed this job—which, despite Gajeel's warning, paid far better than she would have thought. So she nodded her understanding before going back to work, ignoring where the roommates continued to linger at the counter until Rogue went out to—in his soft-spoken, non-threatening way—remind them that their van was done and there was no need to remain.

* * *

 **[…Adjustments…]**

"Cast-offs in the fridge." Lucy declared as Levy's admitted herself into their new-found home they were still in the mists of

Levy and Lucy had moved into a small studio apartment where all rooms were one. Bed, only one and intended for Lucy, took up a good majority of the floor space and required a platform to be built above it for dining. The open sided steps leading to the table being home for a slim fraction of Levy's bookstores while her 'bed' was the futon in the living-space's corner.

They were basically living on top of one another and was quite the adjustment to the young women accustomed to living in opposite wings in a mansion. Both were grateful that their work schedules, Levy and the garage and Lucy at a diner less than a block away, caused them to spend most of their time elsewhere.

Though such never caused the two to outright avoid interaction, actively seeking such out if they went too long without seeing the other.

"Please tell me there's pie." Levy groaned, pulling off her jacket before collapsing onto the floor, not wanting to sit on any of the furniture, collected from second-hand shops, while smelling as if she had gone with a swim in a vat of axle grease.

Lucy gave her a pained smile, sitting on the lifted platform with shoes discarded and foot in hand for a needed massage. "Well…there was."

"Daisya had a craving?"

"Daisya?"

"Thought it was a good unisex name." Peeling off her smock, which had the exciting tang of bus blended into the fibers along with that of the garage, Levy contemplated if burning the garment would be a more humane rather than allowing it to continue this kind of existence. But, then again, that would mean wearing her actual clothing to work, and she didn't have the money to buy replacements. "By the way, don't forget your appointment tomorrow. You sure you don't want me to give you a lift?"

"In what?"

Stepping out of the legs, Levy tossed the mass of fabric into the laundry basket intended just for it and walked over to the fridge in her camisole and shorts. "There are a few cars at work that clients didn't want to pay to fix and Gajeel bought for dirt cheap to sell on the side, can ask Rogue if I could borrow."

"And give Gajeel more of a reason to harass you." Levy could feel the weight of her friend's gaze as she routed about for some form of dinner, most coming as cast-offs from Lucy's job. Especially at the end of the month between their collective pay. They weren't starving by any counts, but funds were indeed lean at times until they managed to perfect their budgeting system. "You shouldn't have to put up with this."

Settling on popping a Reuben into the microwave and ripping open a bag of chips while she waited, Levy rolled her eyes and leaned against the countertop. "No matter where I work, there is a good chance my boss would be trying." Taking a bite, she smirked at the sharp favors of salt and vinegar. "If not, then there would be some other kind of drama to deal with."

"But it would be a comfortable office that smells like ink and pages."

"That would be nice, but I don't mind the work. Honest," Levy added at the look of disbelief that crossed Lucy's face. "There's something entertaining about finding out what is exactly wrong with a car, where the mysterious noise is coming from or why signals are misflaring. Like a puzzle I'm paid to deduce."

"Either you are lying or delusional. Either way, you are far too good of a person to be friends with me."

Forgetting her sandwich, which was dinging away, Levy climbed onto the platform to sit across from the blonde. "Why would you say such things?"

"Levy…We both know that I messed up my life, and I'm dragging you down with me."

"You didn't mess up your life nor mine." Levy still lacked details about the events that led to Lucy's current predicament. Not even the guy's name. All she did know was what was important, that Lucy had been a willing participant. Not victimized nor terrorized nor abused in any way. "No, the situation is not ideal, but it's life, something you can't plan every detail of with complete certainty. Besides, I figure that, in a few years, you'll write a book all about this, raising your child with your best friend in a non-sexual, lesbian kind of home environment, and we'll get a reality TV show which will, by definition, mean that neither of us will ever have to work again."

Lucy gave a weak chuckle, "A non-sexual, lesbian relationship?"

"I love you, but I have seen you naked and—while intimidating for the chest deficient—sorry, it does nothing for me in matters of lust."

That gained a full-out giggle, a happy sound that followed Levy back down to the floor on search for reprieve from a rumbling stomach.

* * *

 **[…Acquaintances…]**

Lucy knew about Levy's garage work, there being no way to hide that from her friend's notice. What Lucy didn't need to know about was the side work Levy took on when Lucy thought she was indulging with library time, the only available moments to read.

In all fairness, she was in a library…just the tutoring section, where students from the community could come in for educational aid. Not great pay, but every bit counted and she enjoyed the work, having a chance to be able to 'fangirl' about books and the like for a few hours while discussing grammar and the fundamentals of standardized tests.

"My brothers are useless with this." Wendy, one of Levy's regular students who was preparing to take a step into the college world, said with an affectionate roll of her dark-brown eyes. "All they know is that they want me to go to college, a good college, on scholarship so I can become a doctor."

"And what do you want?"

"The same." A sunny smile was flashed between thick locks of sapphire that swung down from the pigtails she held it in. "I just realized that some form of detail and preparation was needed for the plan to work out."

Levy gave a somber nod, fighting back a smile of her own. "You are truly wise beyond your years."

"Will you please tell my brothers that?"

"Sure." Levy said with a dismissive shrug. She didn't know much personal information about students, the library's tutoring center not being all that formal in ways of paperwork. As long as money was received on the entrance of each session, no real questions were asked.

Wendy snorted. "Good luck with that. If they had it their way, I would still be wearing tutus and having tea parties."

"I still do both."

More laughter ensured, ceasing when a teenage boy popped his head around the shelved the tutoring and her pupil were located behind. Tall and thin, muscles having yet to fully develop, the boy flashed the two an uncertain smile. "Um…Wen…you ready to go soon?"

"I told you that you could head off without me, I can catch a bus home."

"No…I can wait a bit longer." Though there was no mistaking the sulk in his voice as he retreated once more.

"Boyfriend?" Levy asked the moment the boy was from sight.

Wendy's face flared with a blush, speaking more than her words did. "Who? Romeo? No, of course not. His dad's a friend of the family, meaning that I have been stuck with him my whole life."

"Right." Levy dragged out the word, finger tapping on the open pages of the booklet they were working through. "Either way, your time is about up for today. Same time next week?"

"Yep." Standing, Wendy began to gather her materials in her messenger bag. "And thanks again for all those notes you printed off for me."

"It was really nothing. I enjoy the smells of fresh copies." She gave a self-conscious shrug. "Not many people understand that."

"Probably the same reason why my oldest brother enjoys the stink of an auto-shop."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, just a family joke." With another brief wave, Wendy was off and Levy started to prepare for her next student.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank-you all so much for the reviews/alerts/favorites. I know that this isn't the most exciting of chapters, but trying to lay down some ground work that I neglected in the prologue. Next chapter will have more Lucy in it along with more overall interaction (along with showing more of the cast-have plans for Juvia that I am excited to start on).**

 **Please forgive the typos I know to be lurking about and please let me know what you think!**

 **Thanks~**


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